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Get ready for a major traffic headache in uptown Charlotte on Thursday morning when a motivational business seminar is expected to draw 15,000 people during rush hour.
"Get Motivated" - featuring Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani and former first lady Laura Bush as speakers - begins at 8 a.m. at Time Warner Cable Arena.
To minimize delays, people are encouraged to carpool, use public transportation and arrive early. Attendees can park at the Metrolina Tradeshow Expo or the Bojangles Coliseum for free and take free shuttle buses all day. -- Ely Portillo
Meck briefs
Charlotte
A poll released Monday by Cornerstone Solutions, a Republican-leaning firm in Raleigh, showed Republican John Lassiter leading Democrat Anthony Foxx, 42 percent to 37 percent.
The poll of 400 Charlotte voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
"Heading to the finish line, this race is essentially a dead heat," said Chris Sinclair, a Cornerstone partner. -- Jim Morrill
An effort to get tailgating Carolina Panthers' fans to throw away their trash is succeeding, organizers of the program say.
They say tailgaters have discarded 34.3 tons of trash and 8.2 tons of recyclable materials at five Panthers' home games this season, including two preseason contests.
The tailgating program is a pilot project, organized by the Panthers and several other organizations and companies. As fans arrive at parking lots near Bank of America Stadium, they are given two yellow bags - one for trash, the other for recyclables. Fans are asked to drop the filled bags at the curb to be collected. The project is taking place in a four-block area around the stadium and will be expanded if it succeeds, organizers say. -- Steve Lyttle
Regional briefs
Catawba County
Hickory
Lenoir-Rhyne University announced plans Monday for a $25 million science complex on its campus in Hickory.
The first phase of the project will be a 35,000-square-foot addition to the existing Minges Science Building. The second phase will be a complete renovation of Minges.
When done, the complex will more than double the space devoted to science education. -- Joe DePriest
Police digest
Mecklenburg County
Charlotte
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg police's Missing Person Unit is asking the public's help in finding a 38-year-old woman who has been missing since Saturday night.
The missing person is identified by police as Pamela Delores Gaddy. She was last seen about 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the 4200 block of The Plaza. That is between Sugar Creek Road and Eastway Drive. Family members say Gaddy suffers from seizures and requires medication.
She is described as a black female, 5 feet 7 and 140 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. Police say she was wearing blue jeans, a pink-and-white sweater, and pink-and-white Nike-style tennis shoes. Anyone with information is asked to call 911. -- Steve Lyttle
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer who was seriously hurt in a wreck nearly two weeks ago on Fairview Road is recovering, according to authorities.
Joe Willinsky, 23, was critically injured when his patrol car wrecked about 3:45 a.m. Oct. 14 between Sharon Road and Cameron Valley Parkway. According to Carolinas Medical Center, Willinsky, who suffered head injuries in the crash, is now in fair condition. -- Staff
